GOSPEL POWER - DECEMBER 28, 2020 - MONDAY

HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS

Gospel: Mt 2:13-18 

After the Magi had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

REFLECTION

History is not only a linear succession of events, but a cyclic repetition of certain patterns. We see this often in the Bible, and today’s Gospel is an instance of it. The massacre of the innocents at Herod’s command and Jesus’ narrow escape from it echo the Egyptian Pharaoh’s order in Ex 1:22 to kill all male Hebrew infants. Moses and Jesus are both dramatically spared from the murderous plots, because God has great plans for them. Today, the pattern is being repeated but with a new, more alarming and appalling twist. Innocent lives are sacrificed in the name of the so-called “woman’s choice”— the rejection of motherhood for all sorts of reasons that boil down to personal convenience. Abortion claims a greater number of innocent lives than did Pharaoh’s and Herod’s royal command.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, give us the courage to counteract the culture of death and to stand up in defense of life, regardless of the cost. Amen.